The phrases Afro - Colombian convey ideas about culture and identity of those descendants of African Colombians. Afro-Colombians are black people who are descended from black people from the African continent.
This identity construction is part of the daily reality of Colombians and includes a series of values such as the historical or ethnic rights of citizens, the territorial heritage, the political and ethical project, etc.
Next, I leave you a list of quotes about Afro-Colombianity by the main historical and political representatives of Colombia. You may also be interested in these quotes from Gabriel García Márquez, one of the most prominent Colombian writers in history.
- "Afro-Colombians have a truly effective weapon: a smile!"
- "When an Afro-Colombian talks to me, I don't look at the color of his skin, but rather the color of his feelings."
- "There are no races, the only race that exists is human."
- "My black skin is not a badge of shame, it is a glorious symbol of national greatness."
- "Blackness is the fundamental basis of culture in Colombian society."
- "Without black there is no flavor, as the song says."
- "No one is born hating another person because of the color of their skin."
- "I am the slave's dream and hope."
- "We weaned daughters from Africa are giving birth in our stepmother America.".- María Suárez Rivero and Chabela Ramírez Abella.
- "We want Colombia to be a country free from any type of discrimination, guaranteeing equal treatment for Afro-Colombians and for all communities".- Juan Manuel Santos.
- "Celebrating Afro-Colombianity is celebrating the end of slavery, as a way of recognizing ourselves as a nation in the nation and also recognizing our heroes of the homeland.".- Jesús Agualimpia, director of the newspaper Pacífico Siglo XXI.
- “The culture of the black, Raizal, Afro-Colombian and Palenquera communities is considered as a fundamental pillar for the social, cultural and economic development of the nation. It is important that the participation of society be strengthened by eradicating discrimination and racism. These commemorations imply many challenges of social inclusion for these peoples, and culture is a powerful mechanism to achieve this. ”- Moisés Medrano, Population Director of the Ministry of Culture.
- “If the path provided by the 1991 Constitution is correct, and it is, it is relevant to think about what it means to ignore the history, the references, the data, the figures and not have a collective memory of one of the most significant foundations of the Colombian society and its black communities. These boast a series of cultural manifestations that have been preserved through generations and that have allowed them to cement the multiethnic and multicultural nation. ”.- Moisés Medrano.
- “The memories of slavery are the memories of abolition, resistance, dignity, ancestry, culture, territory, citizenship and its history. This memory that contributes to creating opportunities, already foreseen in the national legal system and distant from many of the black, Raizal, Afro-Colombian and Palenquera communities ”.
- "Being Afro means having part of a universal legacy that must be known, transmitted, disclosed, respected… for being different and at the same time unique".- Alfredo Vanín.
- “Words carry an ideology, some meanings beyond the semantic. Words that denote a false inferiority are still used many times. In other words, they speak out and deeply hurt the self-esteem of the people who suffer from them. ”- Alfredo Vanín on the adjectives used against Afro-Colombians.
- “Satan is black, the different one, the beast, the one to be dominated, and these meanings have been reproduced uninterruptedly through the centuries. The idea is that we begin to reflect on that, we become aware that a human group cannot be perpetually condemned or demonized just because in a period of humanity, European expansion decided that it had to be done. ”- Alfredo Vanín.
- “You always say 'black' as something disastrous or bad. So the task remains to give words a new meaning. For example, the word "black" did not exist in Africa. Therefore, no people in the world have called themselves "black." That is a term put by the colonizer, the trafficker ”.- Alfredo Vanín.
- “Pigmentocracy is a wrong idea of colonization. African traffickers found themselves in Africa with worlds sometimes superior to the civilizations they knew. But to justify the ethnocide they had to divulge the supposed inferiority of the Negro, and degrade him. ”- Alfredo Vanín.
- “I can hardly speak of Afro-descendants because I refer to my black compatriots without any discrimination in the soul, without the need for a single brand. Perhaps, for the reason that I grew up in an area of Antioquia bordering Chocó, where we alternated with each other without feeling differences with deep, mutual affection. Perhaps, because there I grew up seeing my countrymen from Antioquia and coffee growers, fishermen, merchants, and miners from Chocó without any differences being noticed. Perhaps, because I always heard the beautiful story in my elders about the great-grandfather pharmacist co-founder of Quibdo. Perhaps,because I had to learn about one of the biggest frauds that have been done to the nation when foreign gold and platinum mining companies withdrew and left pension charges to retirees and workers of Chocó. ”.- Álvaro Uribe Velez, former president of Colombia.
- “Positive discrimination is still discrimination! It's in the name! ”.- David Osorio.
References
- (2011). National Afro-Colombian Day: to be black is to be Colombian. 3-4-2017, recovered from eluniversal.com.co.
- District Secretary for women. (2015). May 21 National Day of Afro-Colombianity. 3-4-2017, recovered from sdmujer.gov.co.
- Osorio, D. (2011). Happy? National Day of Afro-Colombianity. 3-4-2017, recovered from deavanzada.blogspot.com.
- Agualimpia, J. (2014). Why is May 21 Afro-Colombian Day? 3-4-2017, recovered from lamanoamiga.com.co.
- Virtual Center for Education News. (2007). Words of President Uribe on an Afro-Colombian day. 3-4-2017, from mineducacion.gov.co.